The much anticipated David Beckham endorsed single grain whisky, produced at Cameronbridge distillery. A combination of first-fill, rejuvenated and refill bourbon barrel-matured whiskies are used and Beckham, along with Simon Fuller, is very much involved in the development of the Haig Club brand.
The Haig dynasty meanwhile is the stuff of legend, with Robert Haig getting himself into trouble for distilling on the sabbath back in 1655! Cameronbridge was founded by John Haig in 1824, and a continuous still designed by Robert Stein (who was John's uncle) was soon installed at the site for the production of grain whisky, predating Aeneas Coffey's famous patent for his own version of the continuous still by a handful of years.
The grain whisky produced at Cameronbridge would naturally become integral to the well-loved Haig blended whiskies and now the Haig brand has been reinvented for a new generation and new markets. It may seem like a scary new world to some, but grain whisky is on the march, and Haig Club is at the very forefront.
It doesn't jump out at you, granted, but there's more here than meets the eye (/nose). Apple crumble, expressed lemon peel and a touch of mango. Millionaire's shortbread, banoffee pie, coconut milk, dried grass, orange Turkish delight and cardamom.
Toffee and vanilla with pleasant supporting oak notes. Fresh banana (neither overpowering nor artificial), a hint of nougat and honeycomb pieces.
Praline, cinnamon and a little ginger with perhaps a hint of cardamom returning right at the death.
Approachable, adaptable, good mouthfeel (I chucked some ice in afterwards and the texture was great). A hugely accessible whisky with tasty spice, toffee and, with the ice now, increasingly some tropical fruit notes too.
Handed a sample of this in King's Cross, and I thought the marketing rep was trying to poison me with lighter fluid. Awful.
Over priced definitely. Very viscous. Takes s long time for coatline to break and legs to run. A lt of oil off the grain. Dare I suggest Rye. Initially very sweet, then very cereal. Banana in the background. The cask may well dominate the spirit, as in caramel, suggestive of level three char, and toffee, suggesting an input of Americsn White Oak, but resinous background may indicate hogshead. Vanilla also. Coconut. Palate, sweet, coconut, vanilla, toffee, cereal. Slightly tannic, which again may come from hogsheads with Fresh ends, reflecting the oakiness. Finish, is short and disappears quickly. Spicey. I agree with the malt master above, cinnamon and ginger with s little nutmeg. Overall. I got this as a gift and would suggest that it is very overpriced due to the marketing. I would spend my own money on an Ardbeg or Laphroaig or even better value for money the double cask Tamnavulin available st half the price of Club in a certain supermarket in the UK. Not only is the Tamnavulin double cask s better buy, but it is by far a better whisky. I stop short of calling this rubbish, but if tempted just buy s good blend. Cannot in any way recommend this, but the Tamnavulin double cask, I certainly can.
Unpleasant thin taste, the warning signs are on the label when it is suggested you mix it, ffs.
More like at the forefront of Becks sweaty socks, rank rank rank, a cross between cheap W&M and Meths. Only drinking because I'm totally desperate but this makes me wish I wasn't an alcoholic.
If you're thinking, "Well, it looks like an oversized perfume bottle and it's being loudly hawked by a celebrity footballer, so surely the whisky inside can't be that great" --- congratulate yourself, because that's a pretty accurate assessment. I was given a bottle of this whisky as part of a corporate package, and while it's not dreadful, it's not that great. And it's absolutely not worth the prices you see it selling for, even the one here, which is one of the more moderate prices I've seen. Though it's "smooth" and easy enough to drink on ice, there's very little complexity (even neat), virtually no finish, and no character. Though there's a bit of spiciness on the palate and perhaps a bit of sweetness once it's iced down, the whisky is poorly balanced, with an ethanol-dominated attack, and as mentioned, almost nothing of note on the finish. For considerably less money, you can get the not-as-flashy standard-bearer blend, Johnnie Walker Black Label, a proper 12 year old dram with at least some nuanced complexity and a lovely, creamy mouthfeel -- a popular and indeed common whisky, but one that's far better to drink. Save this Haig Club dreck for the nightclub posers who don't know any better. And if you're really just set on a grain whisky (because they ARE interesting), look East to Japan. Try the Coffey Grain whisky from Nikka or The Chita from Suntory (the grain component of the excellent Hibiki blend, now sold as its own bottling). Both are superior to Haig Club, IMO.
